Oxidation is a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals and can cause oxidative stress. Mammals, including humans and their companion animals, are adversely affected by the oxidative stress. The oxidative stress is therefore thought to be a source or a contributing factor of many disorders, including, e.g., aging, cancer, autoimmune disorders, heart disease, inflammatory disorders, bone disorders, bladder function disorders, joint health disorders, arthritis, vision, depression, anxiety, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, dementias, diabetes, coronary artery disease, kidney disease, and viral or bacterial infections.
In addition, since the average lifespan of a healthy non-human mammal (e.g., a canine) is shorter than the average lifespan of a healthy human being, people commonly experience the loss of their companion animals1. More than half of dogs over 10 years of age are likely to develop cancer2. Although treatment measures are available for canine neoplasia, these treatment measures are typically expensive and are not very effective. For example, once diagnosed with osteosarcoma, the median survival time without treatment, with amputation alone, or with palliative radiotherapy alone, is 4 months. With surgery and chemotherapy this is increased to only 10 months3. In addition, while human therapies are often highly subsidized, the cost of treating service animals and pets generally falls wholly on the owners. The expense associated with treatment options varies, but may range from $6,000-10,000 for chemotherapy, $5,000-7,000 for radiation, and $2,500-6,000 for surgery4. Medical expenses of this magnitude are likely to pose undue hardship on millions of people nationwide.
Antioxidative stress compositions may therefore be of value in enhancing the health of mammals, including humans and non-human mammals (e.g., canines). The results reported below show significant promise and support the notion of providing and perfecting the antioxidative stress compositions, including chemopreventive compositions and immunomodulatory compositions.